CHARGES BY BARBERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21492, 16 May 1933, Page 9

CHARGES BY BARBERS

SYDNEY'S BIG REDUCTIONS DISPUTE WITH UNION Hairdressers in Sydney .who are charging less than Is for a haircut and less than 6d for a shave are having much to contend with. A correspondent writes: —"The Hairdressers' Union is resorting to* various methods to 'queer their pitch.' Picketing was the first step. The Master Hairdressers' Association appealed to the police, and picketing was suspended temporarily. "The next step was to flood the saloons with many men, apparently waiting for haircuts and shaves, who, when the call of 'Next, please,' came did not want either. They had to be ejected and warned against offending again. It was alleged to be interference with the earnings of the hairdressers who were renting chairs from the? proprietors of saloons. These men are said to be making more than the basic wage, and if they did not have this opportunity to work they would be on the dole.

"There is another argument —that more and more workers/ are cutting one another's hair, and that if charges are on the scale desired by the union there will be many additions to their ranks, with a corresponding decrease of earnings by hairdressers, whether, ordinary employees or renters of chairs. Hairdressers charging the higher rates support the union." j/